Sarah Silverman tweet sparks US abortion row

A tweet by US comedian Sarah Silverman saying that she would like to ‘anally probe’ the governor of Wisconsin in reference to a new abortion bill has caused a political row.

The tweet, posted just before 1pm BST, said: “I'd very much like to anally probe @govwalker each time he needs to make an ‘informed decision’”. The message links to a CNN article which reports that Governor Scott Walker has signed a controversial new bill that that requires women to undergo an ultrasound before having an abortion.

The article quotes Governor Walker as saying: "This bill improves a woman's ability to make an informed choice that will protect her physical and mental health now and in the future.”

Over 900 people retweeted Sarah Silverman’s message, one of whom was the Colorado based Democrat politician Joe Salazar. This caused the Colorado Republican Committee to put out a statement announcing: “Democrat Rep. Joe Salazar calls for rape of Republican governor.”

The press release quoted their spokesman as saying: “It’s fine to disagree with Gov. Walker, but it’s not okay for Joe Salazar to call for the governor to be raped.” It continued: “Rep Salazar’s tweet is demeaning and offensive to victims everywhere.”